Ernst Haeckel: Kunstformen der Natur 1899-1904
posted by yegga on Sep 30, 2009 - 22 comments

Microorganisms as eye candy: A gallery of illustrations from the marvelous Artforms in Nature, Kunstformen der Natur 1899-1904 by Ernst Haeckel, an eminent, prolific and very controversial German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor and artist, who named thousands of new species, mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms and coined many terms in biology, including phylum, phylogeny and ecology. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Nov 8, 2007 - 19 comments

Ernst Haeckel: Die Radiolarien (1862) : a microscopic, single-celled organism, the radiolarian extrudes the silica it draws from seawater to forms a dazzling web of crystalline, concentric shells; even more amazing, each of the 5000 known species of radiolarian forms its own unique pattern. "Proteus" is a new documentary of a 19th century biologist/evolutionary theorist/artist's fascination with these creatures. (Oh, Haeckel is also the guy who coined "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny". And he lied.)
posted by of strange foe on Aug 5, 2005 - 14 comments

Buddhist mandalas? Abstract doodles? Alien snow crystals? Nope. Just some amazing scientific art from Art Forms in Nature, published between 1899 and 1904 by zoologist Ernst Haeckel. Lots more early biological art at this scientist's public domain archive. Unfortunately, Haeckel also helped provide the philosophical foundation for Nazism. Hey, no one's perfect.
posted by mediareport on May 24, 2002 - 13 comments